The Blog

Radiohead released a statement today announcing they will be cancelling seven dates on their upcoming European tour following a stage collapse in Toronto Saturday. The collapse, which took place an hour before the house was set to open, killed a drum technician and injured three others.

The collapse apparently also destroyed most of the band’s light show and even some of the amplifiers and other backline elements used in their shows. Many of Radiohead’s amps and other equipment are old and therefore difficult to come by, meaning it will take time to replace them. This has forced Thom Yorke and the rest of Radiohead to cancel shows in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.

In the statement, the band said, “As you will probably have heard the roof over the stage collapsed at our show in Toronto killing crew member Scott Johnson and injuring three other crew members. The collapse also destroyed the light show – this show was unique and will take many weeks to replace. The collapse also caused serious damage to our backline, some elements of which are decades old and therefore hard to replace. “

Currently the Labour Ministry of Ontario is investigating four of the companies that were involved in setting up the concert at Downside Park in Toronto. The companies being investigated are Optex Staging & Services, Nasco Staffing Solutions, Ticker Tape Touring, and Live Nation.

With the Radiohead tour postponed the band are scheduled to resume it on July 10 when they bring their cutting edge fusion of guitar music and electronica to the south of France.